Monday, May 7, 2012

PRICE REDUCED! 2008 Cannondale CAAD9 5 105 Front/Ultegra Rear. Meticulously maintained and just fully detailed, cleaned and properly lubricated. 54 centimeter frame. Carbon fiber fork. Pedals not included unless you want them, 20$ more. They are Crank Borthers. Normal wear and tear and minor cosmetic blemishes but nothing of any concern. Just look at the pictures. 750$ OBO, buyer pays shipping. Selling as I just bought a new mountain bike and I'm loving that, this bikes not getting any miles lately. I'm also going to use this money to buy a new tent to start camping with my family. Check out the pictures, let me know if you have questions. Full specs here.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

It's driving me crazy! Just ask my wife how much little unknown ticks, clicks, knocks or other odd noises drive me nuts in the car. It's even worse for me on the bike. So far I've had my bottom bracket serviced, I replace my chain and cleaned my rear derailleur and last night I took apart my freehub and noticed it was cracked. Somehow, I don't think that's the whole problem. I think there's more. So, tonight, I'm going to swap out pedals and check my cleats (which I won't need tomorrow anyhow if I change cause I'll be changing to platforms). It used to be such a quiet bike, I don't know what happened to it, was I a bad parent, too much tv?

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Today I wore my generic merino wool shirt covered by my Helly Hansen polypropylene shirt covered by my CannondaleMorphis shell. That was much nicer then my HH shirt and toko jacket which I've been wearing on days like today. And mind you- today wasn't "cold". I believe it started at about 34 and on the way home was 39 or so. Today's choice felt light and non-constricting then the more form fitting and stretchy toko jacket feels (which isn't a bad thing). I think I may have to attempt some polarfleece under the wind block of the shell. I don't own a decent actual polarfleece shirt so I may have to do some shopping.

I only have the toko and the cannondale for outter layers so when it's 50 below I try to stuff a base, mid, and heavyweight insulation layer all under the morphis- not such an easy feat. I may have to look at something more in the soft-shell area.

My hat seems to be giving me a cold spot on the top of my head like a needle. I don't recall that feeling from last year. The hat I've used for a while now is a Nike something or other and it's worked quite well but perhaps I've worn it so much it's lost some of its performance. I think I'll look for another as I was quite happy and it was pretty cheep and from like shop-ko or something (was a Christmas present- Thanks Sis! )

Gloves- I'm borderline between my half-finger pearl izumi with a 1$ pair of "magic gloves" on top and my Kombi gore-tex gloves. I don't find them too warm at this temp but if it hits anything above 40 it's too much. The weather can vary significantly depending on which way the wind is blowing- off the lake it's a very wet humid cold feeling temp. Off the shore it's dry and warmer feeling.

Take away lesson from today- wool (even though it's merino) slightly itchy- more air space between the layers and the shell with the morphis= added warmth.

P.S. Almost lost it on the lakewalk today- front tire slid out and I had instant flashbacks of Doug's fall. Luckily the tire grabbed and the bike righted itself again. I was going to put the studded tires on tonight but their calling for a warm spell. I'll wait until the next dive and just be extra carefull in the mornings. Keep your wheels on the ground!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Finding the perfect winter outfit is like hunting for Bigfoot, UFOs, or little leprechauns. Some think they exist, but good luck finding one. Granted, those of us who have been through a winter or two know a bit about how to stay comfortable in the winter but I would bet if you asked any one of us we'd probably say it could be better. That's partially because of the limits of the human body and the technology of the materials we're covering ourselves with. Point is- you'll sweat if you do any moderate level of pedal pushing in winter. The key is how to stay comfortable, not focus on staying dry.

Doug and Jill have both done a recent "What I wore today" post and they each have very different takes on what gets the job done. I've done them in the past too and still to this day feel I could be more comfortable on my rides.

So, I'm going to start a new line of posts over the next few days. Rather then dressing how I normally do now I'm going to try several different things to see what works and what doesn't. Right now I'm trying to see if I can distinguish between a polypropylene and a polyester base layer. Tomorrow I'm going wool for the base. It's not really cold out yet so it's not all that accurate. After all, here in northeast MN we spend more time in winter like conditions then we do in summer like so I've got plenty of opportunity to be riding in the cold as the temps take their annual nose dive.

Stay tuned to see what conclusions I come to- it will be sort of "MythBuster" like. "Remember, don't try this at home, I'm (we're) what you call professional('s)".